Ocellaris Clown Question......

[lodidodi]

I've had an ocellaris clown in my tank for some time now. It was the first fish in the tank. I was thinking of trying to pair it up. Any suggestions as to whether that's possible?

[George]

It's possible. How big is your clown? Buy the smallest ocellaris clown you can find. The old clown may beat the crap out of the new clown. You just have to sit and wait.

[Myka]

It is usually possible. Ocellaris are pretty easy. I would suggest you buy the biggest clown you can find, so that there is a significant size difference. The biggest one will become a female (or may be already), where the smaller one will remain male. I suggest buying a bigger one because the new one will get picked on, and this will be hugely intensified if the new is also smaller. It may take several weeks or even months for them to bond and pair up.

[lodidodi]

the one i've got is a good 2 inches. I don't usually see them for sale bigger than that. Usually I see them in the store and they're around 3/4 of an inch in size. Another concern is I've also got a 6 line wrasse which tends to pick on anybody new.

[burtonpj48]

i added a smaller clown 3/4 inch to pair up with the first one i bought. The bigger one is about 2 inches. When i put the smaller one into the tank, It stayed up top and was scared to swim. It was scared of the larger fishes in the tank. The larger clown came out of its anemone, and swam up to the top and accompanied the smaller clown towards the anemone. Within 15 minutes the little one was swimming in and out of the anemone. I was so happy there was no fighting involved. They became buddies right away.

[Myka]

the one i've got is a good 2 inches. I don't usually see them for sale bigger than that. Usually I see them in the store and they're around 3/4 of an inch in size. Another concern is I've also got a 6 line wrasse which tends to pick on anybody new.

You may have troubles then. Yours has probably already mutated into a female at that size, so your only option is to try a smaller one. Pick a fat healthy looking clown. I would suggest you get one of those floating livebearer breeding traps to separate them for introduction. Hopefully this will help the Sixline lose interest.